Statement by US Secretary of Labor Walsh on August Jobs Report

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement on the August 2022 Employment Situation Report:

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 315,000 jobs in the month of August, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent as more people entered the labor market looking for work. With 9.7 million jobs added since President Biden took office and an average of 378,000 per month over the past three months, the economy continues to transition from a historically powerful recovery into steady and stable progress that benefits working families.

Job growth in August was broad-based, with significant gains in professional and business services, retail trade, wholesale trade and manufacturing. Health care jobs also saw strong growth, including in the nursing and residential care sector hit hard by the pandemic. And in a welcome milestone, two key measures of access to opportunity – the labor force participation rate and the employment-population ratio – for the first time surpassed their February 2020 pre-pandemic levels for women aged 25-54.

As we head into Labor Day weekend, America’s workers and their families have reasons to celebrate. All the jobs lost in the pandemic and more have been recovered. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law already has invested over $100 billion in projects that create good jobs and strengthen communities. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, we are on course to lower costs for families and achieve a clean energy transition by creating more middle-class jobs. At the Department of Labor, through our Good Jobs Initiative we are focused on improving wages, benefits and career opportunities all across the economy, with an emphasis on workers who have been shut out of past recoveries. Our workforce has faced historic disruptions and the nature of work continues to change. But America remains a country filled with hard workers. That’s evident in our continuing strong job growth, and it’s why we are committed to delivering on the promise of good jobs and providing the tools and resources all workers need to succeed.”